Red Lentils and Kale with Miso Reviews

This dish draws on both Mediterranean and Asian influences and uses the very different flavors of sage, miso, and nori in complementary ways. It's a brain-healthy recipe: legumes such as lentils are a key component of the Mediterranean diet, both kale and onions are good sources of polyphenol antioxidants, and sweet potato supplies a dose of beta-carotene.

Leave a Review

Reviews

users rating3.5/4

This is the second time I am making this and it was excellent. I used homemade "vegetable bouillon powder" (nutritional yeast-based) and substituted carrots for the celery. I sauteed the onion and the garlic, and then added the other vegetables (except kale and tomatoes), and continued sauteeing for a bit before adding the lentils, tomatoes, and broth. I added the kale when there was 12 minutes left out of the 20 (adding kale at the last minute leads to crunchy raw kale, which my husband hates and I don't find particularly pleasant either). I used dried sage which I crumbled into the soup. I cooked it for an extra 15-20 minutes or so because the sweet potato still wasn't cooked. I garnished with store-bought flaked nori and dulse seaweeds.

Strangely delicious. I made it as written. It tastes like something you would be served at a health spa. Light, not heavy, and a little sweet. Just wilt the kale, and not much more. I will definitely make it again. I've never tasted anything quite like it.

some toasted sesame oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice right into the bowl at the end really rounds out the flavor! i just barely wilted the kale. also subbed the brain broth for this quite flavorful thai style veggie broth thats been taking up space in our pantry forever. cubed some avocado over top just because I can. So good!

So good! I substituted the brain broth with vegetable broth and a little grated ginger, skipped the celery. Works well with kale or spinach.Really fresh tasting and unusual. And so nutritious. My husband loved it too.

Yes, there's a lot going on here. The end result yielded a hearty, flavorful recipe that got me out of my "rut". I'll probably add this recipe to my repertoire and play with variations. Pluses: there's room to improvise here. I didn't use the brain broth recipe. I didn't even use broth. I used water and yellow miso only. I know. I used sun dried tomatoes instead of Roma. I used dried sage instead of fresh. Minuses: for me the cook times were off; my lentils were too soft, sweet potato a touch under done. Definitely operator error. I am looking forward to using this again, though!

Believe it or not, I got to the end of the recipe and discovered I didn't have miso. So no, miso and I cheated and used organic veggie soup mix instead of brain broth. It came out great. The sage gave it a little surprising zing and the sweetness from my one sweet potato was perfect. I needed much less time than written to cook everything. My toddler loved it, too. (He has a sophisticated palate for his age.)

Based on the others' comments I substituted low sodium chicken broth and omitted the sage. I also substituted white miso with 1 tbsp of doenjang (Korean miso paste) and 1 tsp of gochujang (Korean red pepper paste). The end product was sweet, but balanced by a more earthy and spicy flavor which was quite unique. Next time I will omit the celery (not sure that it adds much) and add all the broth to the lentils and cook the lentils only slightly ahead of the rest of the ingredients, as the lentils had completely dissolved away.

I am curious how sgamblin came to the conclusion that this stew acted as an anti-inflammatory (as if he/she empirically experienced this), as the doctor I asked about anti-inflammatory foods laughed the idea off.
Anyway, I enjoyed this quite a bit, but felt it wasn't perfect. I did not find it sweet (my sweet potato was kind of old, and took a bit longer to soften)... I believe I did everything as suggested. I made the broth, and it was indeed a lot of prep work, but at least there is plenty of it to use for future soups. I think it was worth the effort, as it made the stew very flavourful. I use bouillon cubes sometimes but I feel like that is cheating, but I prefer recipes that don't call for pre-made broth (I'd much rather cook everything into the same soup and not have to deal with bland boiled vegetables that you are apparently supposed to discard but I don't want to waste). The initial bit of water with the lentils evaporated and they were stuck to the pot until I added the other stuff an it unstuck, and I don't really see why they don't just add all the broth at once. My lentils weren't visible in the end product, unlike the picture.